Ex-Giants WR Steve Smith shockingly nominated for Hall of Fame

He was an all-decade lineman for the 2000s, as selected by the Hall, and along with Randy Moss, Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, headlines this year's new nominees.

The only players who've started more games for the Bears are Hall of Famerunning back Walter Payton (184) and center Olin Kreutz (183). He started all 16 games in ten of his seasons with Indianapolis. Moss is one of 11 first-year eligible players. He went on to have stints with the Eagles and Rams before announcing his retirement in May 2013, finishing his career with 2,641 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

Through his career, Hinton played in 177 total games over 13 years with three teams, and was inducted into the Colts' Ring of Honor in 2001.

Owens, who prepped at Benjamin Russell in Alexander City, has reached finalist status in both of his previous years of eligibility without being selected to take the final step into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The list of nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November, then to 15 finalists in January. The finalists will consist of 15 Modern-Era finalists, the recently named Senior Finalists, Robert Brazile and Jerry Kramer, and the Contributor Finalist, Bobby Beathard.

Butler, Sharpe, Driver and Holmgren are all members of the Packers Hall of Fame. However, the most logical explanation seems to be a pretty classic case of identity confusion, where the Giants' Steve Smith was forgotten while the accolades of the Panthers' Steve Smith, with his name right there on the ballot, caused the nominators to forget about that pesky five-year rule.

At the suggestion of former college roommate Nate Hobgood-Chittick, then-Colts general manager Bill Polian made a decision to give Saturday a tryout the following year. The 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee will meet February 3, the eve of the Super Bowl, and select somewhere between four and eight for induction. He made one Pro Bowl, was a Super Bowl champ, and he led the NFC in receptions in 2009. Lynch was also a nine-time Pro Bowler, and he's the only Hall-eligible player with at least nine Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl title who is not already enshrined in Canton.

A quick poll of fellow selectors indicates only one apparent slam dunk for the Class of 2018, former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.